2026-07-26 08:00:00
I enjoy building with AI, whether it's at my day job or with personal projects. Because it scratches the itch of the builder in me that I don't always get when I'm writing every line of code.
It means that I can step back, and think more about the problem I'm solving, the system design, and of course building faster than I would if I did it all by hand. That's definitely been something I've enjoyed at my day job, as delivering code is not a bottleneck[1]. Now more emphasis is on your system design. Does it follow the existing standards and patterns? Can it be expanded later if the scope increases? It also gives you more time to think through edge-cases. Can the design handle them better, or can you build in the controls that ensure proper monitoring? Etc.
To some extent, it makes everyone an architect. And I think if you're abstracted away one level, where you are thinking more about how it behaves as part of a wider codebase and domain, you're less likely to make quick tradeoffs simply to deliver faster.
But there is one itch it doesn't scratch. At least not for me, and not yet.
It's the one where it's late at night, it's just you, you've got music playing on your headphones, and you're just programming. It's not always about building some big project, or working towards an idea that AI can help orchestrate and speed up.
Sure, it helps the builder that wants to build and ship products. But at least for me, writing prompts and coordinating agents isn't the same as actually getting into the code, and feeling like you're doing something.
Well, actually: "Delivering code was never the bottleneck" - Go away. ↩︎
2026-06-27 09:51:08
I'm in bed, I have the windows wide open, and the fan on full blast, and I'm actually starting to feel cold. I'm very glad we're finally reaching the end of this heatwave.
2026-05-31 08:00:00
There's just under 14 hours until the UEFA Champions League Final. Let's hope Arsenal can finally bring home the trophy. 🏆
2026-05-31 08:00:00
So I guess that's what losing the Champions League feels like then.
At least we're still Premier League Champions.
2026-05-29 08:00:00
Britain is typically a cold, wet, and gray place. But whenever the sun comes out, the country seems to come alive. The pub gardens are full, people are out having picnics, kids are out playing, and people generally are more upbeat.
But I have to say, the past week or so has killed me. I don't want to get into international comparisons, or try to claim how "intense" British heat is, but I've had to deal with ~30°c (>25°c indoors) heat for about a week, and with very inadequate fans as the only solution to combat our well insulated buildings.
I'm pretty sure I find it worse than most though, I wear t-shirt and shorts in 15°c. There's not much else I can do at 30°c.
2026-05-10 08:00:00
I've been trying to organically spend less time on my iPhone. For a few weeks my average daily usage dropped from over 6 hours to around 4 hours a day, but it has been creeping up again.
However, I remembered the post by my friend, Elliot, who pointed out (among many great points), that a better metric to try and reduce was pickups. I can see that in the past few weeks my pickups have gone from around 80 a day to 120 a day, with the two most common apps used after pickup being X and Instagram.
While I don't plan on stopping using these apps completely, it does feel like they're my goto solutions for any moments of free time.
So the other day, after seeing constant ads on Instagram, I decided to try to use Blank Spaces. If you don't know what it is, it's essentially a set of widgets that you can turn your iPhone into a "dumbphone".
This now means on my Home Screen, I have seven apps I can launch from the Blank Spaces widget, and four from my Docks.
Widget:
Dock:
It's not as restricted as I've seen others, and I don't have any form of notes app. But that's because I want this to be realistic.
The only contender that I can think of as a future addition is Instagram. Admittedly, I can get lost in Explore and Reels, but it's also where most friends and family are.
In case people are interested, the wallpaper is one I took myself while on a boat ride in Guilin, China. I beleive it was the Li River.
